The Efficiency Expert

Table of

h to have looked up some of his friends. A telephone call would have brought invitations to dinner and a pleasant

to walk from the theater to his hotel, and as he was turning the corner from Randolph into La Salle a young man jostled him

yuh doin'?"

hand in the wrong pocket. I suppose you me

e stranger. "I didn't get nuthin'

h an arc light, even at midnight, without attracting attention. And so it was that before Jimmy realized it a dozen curious

st as the officer confronted them. He took one look at Jimmy's companion, and

nuthin'," mu

ooked inquiri

out?" asked the latter. "My f

policeman. "He ain't no fri'nd o' y

n't known him long enough to presume to claim any close

him pinched?" as

plied Jimmy. "Why s

im viciously a few times, and then gave him a mighty

again I'll run yez in. An' you"-he turned upon Jimmy-"ye'd betther

id Jimmy. "H

ax his stern features into the semblance of a smile the youn

to an empty pocket. Gingerly he felt in another pocket, where he knew his watch couldn't possibly be, nor wa

that?" he mused. "And I

the office called him on the telephone to

ce in the city. He tried to connect the call in some way with his advertisement, but inasmuch as that

ind him. His feet made no sound upon the carpet, and no sound came from the door as he closed it, nor any slightest click from the latch. His utter silence and the stealth of his movements were so pronounced as to attract immediate atten

ything?"

said

isitor, laying the other

sm of virtue?

e guy. O'Donnell has been trying to get something on me for the last year.

wn," sa

e other; "I go

or a few minutes at least. I was just

ssly into a chair. "Al

ered him hi

r. "I'd rather have a coffin-nail

lar line of endeavor would prove rather hazardou

and, as before, w

d then some, because any boob can spot any one o' de harness bunch, and I know nearly every fly on the department.

ave to put in at your occupatio

de surface line are usually good for two or t'ree hours a day, but I been layin' off d

asked Jimmy, "to-er-ah

it when I was a kid, an' dese yaps t'ink dat's all I know, and I keep dem t'inkin' it by pullin' stuff under der noses often enough to give 'em

g?" ask

I'm the

ated Jimmy. "An ice

inned. "Safe,"

r want any one to break int

e," replie

ng, "I'll call on you. That the

he Lizard. Now I g

ack a box?"

s lip smile and tur

y. "What would you have go

stood me abou

rew forth a roll of bills. "Here,"

oving the proffered money

d Jimmy. "I may want a

he Lizard, "if you

a man of your ability could earn a

. Wore out my shoes looking for a job. Never landed anything that paid me more than ten

ounded you all the time

ve dem alone. I worked four hours to-day, maybe six before I get through, and I'll stand a chance of makin' all the way from fifty dollars to five thousand. Suppose I was drivin' a milk-wagon, gettin' up

ffered me your services; I'll offer you mine. Whenever you want a job, look me up. I'm going to be general manager o

sooner than I want a job, the chances are we will never meet

alighted upon that for which he sought-the ad that was to infuse into the business life of the great city a new and potent force. Before his breakfast was served Jimmy h

r of Large Business where ability, energy and experie

obably would be several alert prospective employers who would despatch their replies by special messengers, and realizing that promptness was one of the cardinal

too early to expect some returns from his ad, and therefore at ten promp

h the numbers upon a file of little pigeonholes, the clerk pre

realized that they were not all for him, and as the young man ran through them Jimmy's spirits dropped a notch with each letter that was passed over without being thrown out to him

e clerk, shaking h

ked in the right comp

e clerk. "There is

own is slower than I thought it was," he mused. "'I guess t

and then at two o'clock, and when he came in at four

I distributed all the stuff m

st newspaper, and he had not received one reply, a man approached the counter, passed a slip similar to Jimmy'

sidetracked somewhere? I have seen people taking letters away from

"What you adverti

on," repl

d the clerk. "That fellow the